ANALYSIS OF COAL BANDING TEXTURE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR MEGASCOPIC IMAGE-ANALYSIS

Window filtering methods were modified to analyse megascopic textural information acquired from banded bituminous coal seams in the field. A lthough banding texture directly influences the physical properties of coal, methods for its characterisation and analysis are poorly develo ped. Banding texture was obtained manually from the coal face and core at a minimum resolution of 1 mm. Window filtering was used to determi ne the optimum resolution (30-50 mm) required for accurate discriminat ion of coal lithotypes by either manual or image analysis methods. Met hods used to automate this procedure and their problems are discussed.